1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of bearing devices and pertains more particularly to an improved ball bearing assembly especially adapted for use in supporting drawer slides or the like. The invention further pertains to a bearing device which includes means for temporarily retaining the bearing components in assembled conditions pending permanent attachment of the device, as to a support bracket.
2. The Prior Art
In prior slides or like mechanisms, it is conventional to employ anti-friction devices, such as ball bearings or the like. In a typical construction, a channel member may be fitted either to a drawer or a cabinet component of an article of furniture, the other relatively movable component being fitted with a bracket carrying a tire or wheel. The tire or wheel is mounted within the channel for translatory movement, a bearing assembly being interposed between the tire and bracket whereby free movement between the components is assured. Numerous designs of bearing mechanisms exist for effectuating the purpose hereinabove set forth.
A highly desirable attribute of bearing devices, as heretofore noted, is that the same be susceptible of assembly whereby the inner and outer races and balls are integrated into a unit which may be subsequently attached to a mounting bracket. The device, thus, is in contrast to other units heretofore known, such as may be exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,945 where the bearing components are not reliably united until after the bearing itself has been affixed to a bracket.
Further, it is highly desirable that after the bearing is secured to the bracket, an operation typically carried out by staking or turning over portions of the bearing assembly after the same have been passed through an aperture in the bracket, relative movement between the bracket and staked portion of the bearing structure, be eliminated.
By way of example, the conventional bearing construction wherein the inner race portion is formed by a stud having an annular shoulder normal to the axis of the bearing is inserted by passing components of the stud through an aperture in the bracket until the shoulder engages a surface of the bracket and thereafter pinning or staking portions of the stud extending through the bracket against the face of the bracket remote from the shoulder. In such constructions there is a substantial tendency for the bracket and supporting stud, after usage, to become loose and to wobble or even for the stud to rotate relative to the bracket. In extreme cases, the axis of the bearing may become displaced from the desired perpendicular relation relative to the bracket and to wobble in its connection with the bracket, with resultant undue drag when the drawer is operated.
In order to eliminate or minimize the possibility of a weakened connection between the bracket and the bearing stud, it has heretofore been proposed to interpose a lock washer or the like between the components. The use of a lock washer, however, is undesirable in that it involves an additional operation (positioning the lock washer) and further in that the orientation or displacement of the tire member is a function of the degree of compression applied to the lock washer.
Additionally, if the thickness of the lock washer is not maintained within a high degree of tolerance, the lateral offset of the tire from the bracket may vary within an undesirably wide range.
In order to overcome the difficulties inhering in the use of a lock washer, it has been proposed to corrugate or emboss the face of the stud engaging the bracket in such manner that it presents a high degree of friction or corrugation, resistance to wobble, rotation and wear. As an example of such construction reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 3,469,892.